Forever and Always - Alternate Ending
by Keleficent
Summary: What if Stan hadn't stopped Mabel's suicide in time? (Cowritten with Marehami)


Unable to handle the darkness that clouded her mind for a second longer, she popped all the pills in her mouth. She hesitated for a moment before swallowing. It was done.

"MABEL!"

Mabel whipped around to see Stan run up to her. Stan stared at the empty pill bottles in her hand and panicked. "Mabel…what did you do? What did you do?"

Mabel put her hand over her mouth. It was like Stan broke her out of a trance she was in. What had she done? She was going to die.

She was going to die.

"Gr…Grunkle Stan…"

"Mabel…"

"Grunkle Stan…help me…"

Stan stared at her with his mouth agape unsure what to do. There was no way he would get Mabel to a hospital in time. There was no way to save her.

"Grunkle Stan…Daddy…" Mabel tried to run into his arms but ended up stumbling. Stan caught her and brought her into a hug. She was already feeling sleepy. She was slipping away. "Daddy, help me, please. I don't wanna die."

Mabel dug her nails into Stan's jacket, clinging to him like she was clinging to life itself. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Daddy! Just don't let me die, please!"

Stan would give anything to save Mabel. He would trade his own life for hers if he could. His daughter was begging for her life, and he couldn't do anything but watch her die.

"Baby…" The words were nothing more than a feeble choke as he tried to keep himself composed as much as possible. If nothing else, he wanted to at least make her passing easier. "It's okay. Just…just close your eyes."

Mabel looked up terrified like Stan had just delivered her death sentence. "No…no…Grunkle Stan, please. Please…please…I'm scared"

"Shh…" Stan cupped the back of her head and held her close. "Mabel, don't…just close your eyes. It'll…it'll all be over soon."

"No, please!" Mabel sobbed. "I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die, Daddy."

Stan had no words as he felt Mabel's hot tears soak his shoulder.

"Is it gonna….is it gonna hurt?" she whispered.

That was a question so many people ask about dying, but the horrid reality is there is no way to know for certain, but Stan couldn't let Mabel be scared. "No, baby, it's gonna be okay. Just like falling asleep."

"Do you think…do you think I'll go to heaven?"

Stan was an atheist, but right now he hoped more than anything that he was wrong. He didn't want to believe that this beautiful soul would be lost forever. "I've never met anybody who deserves to go to heaven more than you."

"Will I see my mommy and daddy?"

"Yes, baby. They're gonna be waiting there for you." Stan was trying his hardest not to break down. "I love you so much, Mabel."

"I…I…love you too…" Mabel said in a shaky voice. She was falling asleep. Her time was running out. "Tell…tell Dipper and…and Grunkle Ford…that…I love them."

"I will, baby. They love you too. We all love you so much."

"You don't hate me?" In her final moments of consciousness, it hit the poor child that, not only was she dying, but it was a death brought by her own hand.

"I could never hate you, sweetie. This is all my fault. I'm so sorry Mabel…I'm so very…very sorry, baby. You know that I didn't mean any of the awful things I said tonight, right? I got angry and scared, but I didn't mean it, baby. I would give _anything_ to take it back."

Mabel nodded as her body began to shake from the shock of the massive amount of pills inside of her. Stan held her tighter, while trying to keep his own body steady so Mabel could be as comfortable as possible.

"I just…wanted to be your daughter."

"You are my daughter. You will always be my daughter," Stan said as she stroked her hair.

"And you…will always…be my daddy…" Mabel whispered in a gurgled voice. They didn't have long.

Stan gently broke the hug and cradled Mabel in his arms. He wanted her to die feeling safe and warm in the arms of someone who loved her. He wanted the last thing she ever saw to be a familiar face.

"So…so cold," Mabel whispered. The color was leaving her face and her lips were turning blue.

"Shh…" Stan wrapped his jacket around her and held her close, fighting the raging winds and snow flurries in an attempt to keep her warm.

Mabel was having trouble keeping her eyes open. "I'm so tired."

Stan cupped her face, trying to smile even as tears slipped down his face. "Then go to sleep, baby. I'm here with you. I'm not letting you go."

Mabel fought with all that she had to keep her eyes open, fully understanding what would happen when she closed them. It became too much for her tiny body to bear as she finally closed her eyes and went limp in Stan's arms. Now that he no longer had to be strong for Mabel, he unleashed all his grief with wailing sobs. He held Mabel's body close to him, pressing her face against his. He rocked her back and forth like he did the night she was born as though she could still be soothed. He held her the first day of her life; he never wanted to hold her the last day of her life. "My baby…my poor baby…"

His little girl, his _everything_ , was gone.

Ford and Dipper finally caught up and were horrified to find Stan clutching Mabel's lifeless body. Ford's knees gave out as he collapsed to the ground. Dipper ran to his sister's side.

"No…no…Mabel, no…please, no…" Dipper cried. Dipper made eye contact with Stan on some minuscule hope that Stan would tell him his sister could still be saved. But Dipper could see his uncle was destroyed in a way only Mabel's death could do. "Mabel…" Dipper laid his head against Mabel's cold and unmoving chest and cried.

The Pines family was now a family of three.


End file.
